Reliving History
by AndSoForeverAfter
Summary: As a child, they had always been told tales of heroes and adventures that had happened in the past. It never seemed real, until a young farm boy was hired by the king, and they're lives changed forever.
1. Prologue

**Hey there! Thanks for clicking on this! I really hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think. I think this goes without saying, but I do not own the characters, only the plot and story... Actually, I lied, I own a few minor characters, but other than that, they all belong to other people. I made no profit off this, and this probably isn't necessary for me to say, is it? Anyway, enjoy!**

"Mother? Why do all the stories you tell me end the same way?" A little girl no more than six asked, as her mother gently ran a comb through her strawberry blonde locks. Hearing about the legends of her kingdom had become the little girl's daily tradition that she shared with her mother. Every evening at 7 o'clock, while her mother brushed out her hair before bed, a new story would be told, or, at the very least, a new variation or side story of an old favourite. "The princess is always safe, the hero defeats the evil man, and everyone lives happily ever after. And no one falls in love! What happened to romance? Stories that my nurse tells me end in the princess falling in love with a dashing knight or a handsome prince!"

"Darling, I know you'd be upset with me should the end be any other way." Her mother said softly. "I know exactly how you would

react, my princess. Besides, the tales your nurse tells are only fairy tales. Nothing more than fictional tales passed down through generations to entertain little girls much like yourself."

"Your stories, they're all true, aren't they? You didn't just create them yourself, did you Mother?" The girl asked, staring into

her mother's sparkling blue eyes, an identical colour to her own.

"Of course not darling, everyone in the entire kingdom has heard these stories, they have been told since before I was even born. Some of them before even your grandparent's life times. Most even before their grandparents life times."

The little girl slid off the stool she'd been sitting on, and made her way over to the bed. "Mother?"

"Yes my dear?"

"Why do the princesses in the stories all have the same name as me?" She asked, rubbing her sleepy eyes, and crawling under the fluffy, warm blankets.

"Zelda, you've asked me this every night for nearly a year, you must be tired of my response by now." Her mother teased, pushing her daughters hair from her face and kissing her forehead.

"I know, I know. When I get big, I will know." Zelda yawned loudly, and pulled her blankets tightly around her. "I can't wait to get big..." She trailed off, almost instantly falling asleep.

"Good night my wise little princess."


	2. Chapter 1

Ten years later...

It was another peaceful day in Ordon. Then again, when wasn't there a peaceful day in Ordon? The past century or more had been day after day of tranquility, since the days of the darkness were long gone. The feeling of security and safety would not fade from the residence of the small farm town. All except for one young girl.

"Whoa horsey! Calm down! Wahhh!" The girl screamed, wrapping her tan arms around the horses brown neck and clinging for dear life. "Carlo! Carlo, help!"

Her twin brother Carlo jumped from his perch on the fence and ran towards the rambunctious horse. "Corla! What should I do?"

"Get Link!"

"But I can help!" Carlo insisted, cautiously moving closer the horse and it's screaming rider.

"I said get Link!" Corla snapped, gripping tighter to the horse, and trying to fight back her tears, caused by both pain and fear.

Carlo turned and ran the other way, up the hill and out of sight. She couldn't see where her brother had gone after that, but she prayed to Farore it wasn't far, she didn't have the strength to cling on much longer.

Just as the horse began to become aggressive, a sweet, gentle melody filled the air. The horse's violent motions began to cease, and the only movement Corla could feel was the gentle heartbeat of the beast.

The beautiful music was coming from a tiny, round ocarina, no bigger that a child's fist. It was played by the stable boy, Link, Corla's apparent savior. He slide the ocarina into his pocket and slowly approached the horse and it's terrified rider.

"Link, you are truly a miracle worker." Corla admitted, climbing down from the horse. "As for you," She said, pointing at the horse, a  
>stern, angry expression on her face, "You, Epona, are a devil horse! A devil horse, I swear!"<p>

"She isn't that bad now Corla, you just aren't very good with animals." Carlo explained, taking the reins from his sister. Link  
>didn't say anything, just gently brushed his hair from his face, and scratched Epona's ear to keep her calm.<p>

Corla grumbled to herself, trying to pull her brown hair back into a neat ponytail, but she was unsuccessfully. On a normal day, Corla was one of the prettiest girls in Ordon, with her sleek brown hair, bright green eyes, and delicate features, but at that moment, she was scary to look at. Her hair was a whirlwind of tangles, her blue dress was slightly torn in spots, and her face was covered in dust that Epona must have kicked up during her tantrum.

"Carlo!" She cried, as she struggled to clean her dress. "It's ruined! I need a new one!"

"Too bad," Carlo said unsympathetically, "we can't afford a new dress."

Corla's bottom lip jutted out the second her brother finished speaking. She innocently batted her long brown eyelashes and let a few tears all down her cheeks. "But Carlo..." she whimpered, wiping a few of the tears away.

"No Cor, no one in the village can afford something to your standards, especially not you. Now go wash it, try to make the best of it." Carlo insisted. He gave her a small shove towards their cabin and shook his head as she stomped her way up the hill. "That girl will be the death of me. Help me clean up this mess she made, will ya? We aren't paying you for nothing."

Five minutes had barely passed before Corla came running back down the hill, waving her hands over her head. In her right hand was a pure white envelope. "Link! Link! Thelma sent me down here with a letter! It's addressed to you!" The girl hobbled her way down the hill, being cautious so she would not cause anymore damage to her only good dress. Once she was on the flat ground she took off running. "It looks important!" She squealed once finally reaching the boys.

"Who's it from?" Link asked as he took the letter from Corla. Carefully he cut a slit along the top of the envelope with a knife he'd pulled from his belt.

Corla simply shrugged. "I asked Thelma, and she said that the post man didn't say. To be honest, I think she scared him off, you know how intimidating. You want to know what I think? I think it's from the king. Look at the seal. You'd have to be very important to have such a fancy seal, and the kings the most important person in Hyrule."

Carlo rolled his eyes. "Corla, don't speak such foolishness. There is no way that the letters from the-"

"No," Link cut in, "she's right. It's from the king! Look!" He passed the letter to Carlo from inspection.

Carlo stood in shock for a while before he could finally speak again. "It really is from the king."

"What does he want anyway?" Corla asked. She peered over her brothers shoulder and attempted to read the letter. Carlo simply shoved her off.

"An escort. It doesn't say for who though. He's offered to pay you handsomely."

Corla's eyes lit up. "With the kind of money the king could pay you, we could pay off our dept, and still have a lot of rupees left over!"

"We could build a new stable for Epona and the others, it should make her less irritable." Carlo suggested.

"And we could fix up the cabins and the barn. They're all getting a bit ratty."

Both twins grew more excited at the ideas, and completely insync they began, "And-"

"Wait!" Link put both his hands up defensively. "I haven't even agreed to go yet!"

Corla seemed confused. "You mean you're saying no to the king?"

Link shook his head. "I can hear Aunt Thelma yelling at me, we'll talk about this after supper, alright?"

The twins sighed and nodded. As Link walked away, they exchanged glances, and without words, agreed on something. They could not let link turn this offer down. 


	3. Chapter 2

"Your majesty? Are you in there?" A woman called from outside the princess's chambers. "Your Majesty, open this door immediately!" She began to rap on the door, and seemed to have no intention of stopping until the door was opened.

"Just give me but a moment Maila!" the princess called back as she crawled through the open window. She winched with pain as her blistered hands gripped onto the cold stone window ledge. "I'm just getting ready. Is there something wrong?"

Maila was the princess's nurse, but over the years, had become more of a messenger and personal assistant to the king. "Your father demands a word with you my princess. Please hasten, you cannot just keep a king waiting, even if you are his child." The nurses voice was anxious and shaking, yet in her own rushing, the princess failed to notice.

Another girl followed closely behind the young princess, and with great difficulty, attempted to crawl into the room. "Zelda?" she whispered, "Can you help me?" She clung desperately to the ledge, standing on one of the thick vines that had made their way up the castle walls. A loud "epp!" escaped her lips as the vines began to shift.

Zelda nodded and held out her hand to pull the other girl up. "Ayren, you have to be more quiet," She whispered, "Maila has incredible hearing."

"Princess? What's taking so long? Is Ayren there with you?" Maila began to pound on the door even harder as she demanded some answers. Each and every knock harder and louder than the one before it. "Princess? Open this door right now!"

"She's here, don't worry!" Zelda said cheerfully.

Maila sighed. Zelda assumed she was also shaking her head. "It's when Ayren is with you that I worry princess."

"She's just relacing the back of my dress."

That was a lie, as Princess Zelda was still sporting the sky blue tunic that she'd worn when she had snuck out of the castle. It was supposed to be only for horseback riding, but it certainly had it's other uses. After all, it was very similar to the kind of tunic a commoner would wear. Rather plain, and very durable. For obvious reasons, she couldn't wear it around the castle. Ayren quickly crossed the room, threw open the armorer, and pulled out one of the princess's favourite dresses.

"Why does the dress need to be laced again? Which one is it?"

"Which else? The one with the pink bodice and white shirt of course! The lacing was a tad crooked, don't worry, I fixed it." Ayren called. She then leaned over Zelda's shoulder and whispered, "change quickly."

This wasn't the first time Zelda had snuck out, and it most certainly would not be the last. Almost like magic, the girl pulled the tunic off and slide into the dress within a few short seconds.

Ayren just stared and shook her head. "You are getting way too good at that you know."

A proud smile crossed Zelda's fair face. "I know." She then turned to the door. "Come in Maila!"

Maila hadn't so even opened the door when Ayren gasped, realizing that they hadn't hidden all evidence of their escape. "Zelda, your arm!"

Midway between the princess's left elbow and shoulder was a long, swollen gash. Though it wasn't deep or painful, it was a fresh wound, there was no way of denying that.

Zelda wrapped both arms around herself, and covered the wound with her small hand.

Maila didn't fail to notice the princess's attempt to hide it as she came into the room. Her eyes instantly went to the suspicious grip the girl held on her upper arm. "Princess, what's wrong?"

"Nothing Maila, absolutely nothing!" Zelda spoke quickly, wanting the conversation to end even faster than it started. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to find a way to distract her nurse.

Maila, on the other hand, wanted to drag the questioning out, almost as if she were trying to torture the panicked princess.. "Why do you hold your arms so Princess?"

Zelda shrugged, and forced herself to shiver. "I fear I may have fallen ill with a cold ma'am. I find it very chilly. I've been shivering since dawn."

"A cold? In the hottest season of the year? Do you really expect me to believe that princess?" Maila rested

"Yes..." Zelda sighed, feeling rather defeated. "No."

"Then put your arms down."

Zelda let her arms drop to her sides. Her eyes turned away from her nurse, who's own green eyes were glaring at the gash.

"What did you do?" Maila asked. She gripped on to the princess's forearm and examined the gash more closely.

"I must have brushed a tad too close to a sharp edge and received a scratch from it. Please do not concern yourself too much with it, Maila, in no way is it painful." Zelda explained.

Maila didn't believe it. "That's a nick from an arrow. You two were at the archery range again, weren't you?"

The two younger girls let their heads hang. "Yes."

Maila turned to Zelda first, a anger shown in both her face and in her face. "You know the king forbade you from leaving the castle, much less going all the way to the archery range! We're on the verge of war, can you imagine what chaos would break loose if a potentially dangerous foreigner recognized our princess?" Zelda remained silent, so Maila moved on to Ayren. "And you! Don't you even realize that helping the princess go against the kings orders is treason?"

Ayren's green eyes widened with fear. "What?"

Maila let out a sigh and gentle shook her head. The fear that she had caused in the two young girls was punishment enough... For the time being, anyway."Don't worry. This one last time, I'm going to let you both go off with a warning." Maila said. She walked over to the dresser on the far side of the room and pulled open the top drawer. From there, she produced two long white gloves. "Princess, put these on, they should be long enough to just cover the scar."

The princess took the gloves and carefully pulled them up her arms. They almost reached to her shoulders, completely covering the wound. "Perfect. Thank you Maila. I should go find Father now, shouldn't I?"

"You should." Maila pointed to the door. Wanting to get out of the room quickly, Zelda ran out the door and turned down the hall towards the Great Hall. Once the princess was out of sight, Maila took Ayren by the wrist and began to lead her down the corridor. "Now, there is someone needs to know of the trouble you've caused."

"The king?" Ayren asked hopefully. The king was kind and forgiving, he'd understand.

"Of course not," a wicked grin crossed Maila's lips, "our mother of course."

Ayren struggled to get away. "Please anything but that!"

"Come along Ayren. I'm sure this is a story she'd love to hear.""

"You are the worst sister ever."

"I know, I know."


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, I'm so sorry for taking so long, school and dance class have devoured my time. I'm starting to get everything everything in order so they should be a lot quicker.**

The once bright and cheerful sun began to creep behind the thick forest and tuck itself into sleep. Warm candles replaced it's soft light as the three young adults took their seats around Thelma's old wooden table.

"You know, you can't say no to the king of Hyrule. After all, he is the king of Hyrule!" Corla annouced in a tone both stern and kind. She sat on one side of the table, the fork in her hand pointed at Link, who sat opposite her.

"I know." Link mumbled. He absentmindedly held a fork in his left hand, occasionally stabbing it into his food, but never brought anything to his mouth. Instead, he kept his focus on the letter to his right. No matter how many times he had read, reread and analyzed the letter could he find an answer to his most important question. "Why would he ask for me anyway?"

Thelma smiled proudly as she snatched the letter from Link. "I always knew my sister's boy was special! Even the king sees that!" With that, she left the room to do the chores Corla probably didn't finish.

While Corla and Thelma wholeheartedly encouraged Link to take what they called "the opportunity of a lifetime," Carlo found himself even more against this idea. It wasn't as if he didn't want what was best for his friend. In fact, Carlo wanted even better for his friend than whatever the 'best' could ever be. All that put aside, he just didn't want Link to have the chance end up with the beautiful girl he'd been dreaming off for most of his life. Princess Zelda. At the same time, he considered the possibility of using his connections to Link to swipe the heart of his dream girl.

As he began to pour soup into his bowl, Carlo finally found himself asking, "You are going though, aren't you Link?"

Link simply shrugged and continued to play with his food. "Probably. I mean, it's not like I can refuse of anything. Corla's right. You can't say no to the king."

A self-righteous smile crossed Corla's lips. "Corla's right... No two words more beautiful than those..." She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and mumbled, "Focus Cor, focus."

"When do you have to go then?" Carlo asked as he sat down at the table. Without waiting for a reply, he snatched the letter and began to read it to himself. "According to this, he needs you there by the 7th, so I guess you'll need to leave by tomorrow, if you want to make it with some time to spare, I think. If memory serves me right, and it usually does, it's about a three days trip through both the woods and Hyrule fields, and that's without taking into account your lack of experiance travelling through the area."

"Sounds right to me!" Corla said brightly.

She took the chair she'd been sitting on and began to pull it across the room towards a tall cabnet near the window. The legs of the chair squeaked and squealed loudly as she scraped them across the wooden floor. "Thelma put a map of Hyrule up here somewhere," she said as she groped blindly around the top of the cabnet, "I think anyway..." Corla grew more and more frustrated as the map evaded her, until she finally "found it!"

Jumping from the chair, Corla giddily waved the folded map over her head. "Can you believe our Link was hired by the king?"

Carlo laughed, noticing Link had taken the letter back, again reading it. "He certainly can't. This isn't like him, is it?"

"Most definitely. I haven't seen the boy this quiet since..." Corla's voice trailed off, yet in her mind, she said _since his parents disappeared_. "Well, since quite some time ago, and that's saying a lot he's quiet to begin with."

The twins had learned that over the last three years, Link's missing parents had been a touchy subject. In the imaginary book of rules that kept order on the farm, even so much as mentioning the lovely Malina and the brave Rine was forbidden to most. Malina's only sister was the exception to this rule.

"Kids, look here!" Thelma's voice cried with excitement as she pounded down the stairs, "I'd never thought I'd find this again!" Clasped tightly in her hands was a long, thin wooden box, made of dark red wood. The top of the box was engraved with the most beautiful designs. Set in the very center was the royal family crest, painted in gold. "The king presented this to your father, you know, when he first became a knight. After receiving a larger sword, he decided to pass this on to his first born son, should he have one. So, Link, I suppose this is yours."

With a smile starting to glow on his face, Link took the box and gently lifted it open. The sword was smaller than that of a senior knight, but the perfect size for a boy of only 17 years. "Thelma, I-"

"No need to thank me boy, I was only doing what your old man woulda done where he here. Now go pack, you've got a big journey ahead of you."

With that, the boy turned on his heels, and ran up the stairs.

"I haven't seen him run in a long time." Corla admitted. She'd become rather used to Link's lazy, absentminded, aloof ways, and to see him excited with bizarre and new.

"How did you know the sword would work?" Carlo asked, slightly in shock himself.

Thelma chuckled. "Every little boy wants to be like his father, they just need something to show that goal is within reach. For Link, that sword is what set it in motion.

The sun was just beginning to set when Thelma and Corla pried Link away from the luxuries of soft pillows and warm blankets.

Like weighed down by a dozen heavy stones, he sluggishly pulled himself around the house, from the kitchen table where a hot breakfast of pancakes and poached cucco eggs waited for him, to his bedroom again, where he dressed and gathered the very last of his belongings. Tucked safely into his pouch where a small bottle filled with a familiar, sweet smelling potion, a tiny pictograph of his family, which Corla insisted he take with him, should he find a handsome prince for her, the tiny four holedd ocarina Carlo had carved for his six years before as a birthday gift, and a slingshot he'd bought as a child, saving up every last rupee to buy the last the Ordon shop had. A few other essentials were loaded into Epona's saddlebag.

As he saddled up, Corla peered out from behind the porch beams. "Eh Link?" she asked nervously.

"Yes?" he replied absentmindedly, fumbling with the saddle, still half drunk with sleepiness.

"You'll come back right? Exactly the way you are?" She toyed with her the ribbon lacing on her dress and avoided eye contact, just in case he didn't give her the answer she so desperately wanted to hear.

"Of course Cor. I'll do whatever I can to come back. The king can't have something dangerous in mind if he's sending a teenaged boy, can he?" Link asked, in attempts to make the mood more light hearted. He swung himself up onto the horse and ran his hands along her soft coat.

"You're right," she admitted, "I'm silly to think otherwise."

Link laughed a little, he couldn't disagree with that.

Rather than getting flustered and angry, like she usually did when he laughed at her, she grabbed him my the collar and pulled him down to her level to kiss his cheek. "Please come home soon." she whispered.

"I will, I promise, now I'd better g-"

"But-"

"The sooner I leave, the sooner I'll be back. Now stop worrying so much, I'll be fine. Good bye Corla." he said as Epona began to walk, still slow from her early awakening as well.

"Bye Link." she said, and turned back to the cabin. "I'll miss you... Please be careful."


End file.
